麻豆社

President Donald Trump recently addressed what he described as the 鈥渉orrible crisis鈥� in autism, and rapid rise in reported cases over the last two decades. Previously, he鈥檚 suggested a link between some vaccines and autism, and in his latest remarks, he warned pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller Tylenol, or Paracetamol as it鈥檚 known in many countries.

Scientists around the world have condemned his remarks. They say the rise in reported cases of autism is due to increased understanding and diagnoses, and that there is no evidence to show that autism is caused by painkillers or vaccines.

In our conversations, autistic people and the parents of autistic children discuss their reactions to President Trump鈥檚 comments.

鈥淚 think it's heartbreaking,鈥� says Ella, who's autistic and lives in the UK. 鈥淗e's a man whose voice is heard internationally. And I think regardless of whether this misinformation is called out and is called misinformation, people do listen.鈥�

鈥淪uddenly being autistic looks like a choice someone made, and then families can be treated like, like they have fault for somebody's diagnosis,鈥� says Elena, another autistic woman.

For Gifty, a parent in Ghana, another aspect is the blame it puts on mothers. 鈥淚n this in this part of the world, Africa, we already have men who don't understand these things. I mean, it adds more value to their conspiracy theories. The mother ate something, the mother did something 鈥� and it's like, oh, you see, we always knew that it was coming from the mother.鈥�

Presenter: Rahul Tandon
麻豆社 producers: Isabella Bull and Ash Mohamed
Boffin Media producer: Anne McNaught

An EcoAudio certified Boffin Media production in partnership with the OS team.

(Photo/credit: Areva Martin and her son Marty)